Gerald Reaven

Research Description: Dr. Reaven haspioneered studies to evaluate the role of insulin resistance (IR) and secretion in human diseases for ~ 50 years. He helped developed the insulin suppression test (the first quantitative method to measure insulin-mediated glucose uptake), and used this technique to establish the importance of IR in the pathogenesis and clinical course of patients with type 2 diabetes. In addition, his group used these same approaches to gain new insights into human disease by developing and studying experimental models of diabetes, principally in rodents. In nondiabetic individuals, they demonstrated the role of IR and compensatory hyperinsulinemia in the development of: 1) coronary heart disease); 2) hypertriglyceridemia and a low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration; 3) hyperuricemia; 4) enhanced postprandial lipemia and remnant lipoprotein accumulation; 5) salt sensitivity; 6) essential hypertension; and 7) increased sympathetic nervous system activity. These important achievements have been amply recognized and include the ADA Banting Award, and the Lilly, Koch and Pasarow Awards. These enduring achievements and continuing active work with trainees and colleagues at Stanford and around the world enable him to be an important contributor to the Stanford DRC mission. He is an active contributor to efforts by other Stanford colleagues to understand the genetic basis of IR and physiologically characterize risk genes. He also is active in studies to quantify the effect of statins on insulin resistance and insulin secretion.